Snowdonia National Park, Wales: Snowdon Horseshoe via Crib Goch
This 7-mile circuit in Snowdonia National Park ascends Crib Goch en route to Snowdon (the highest peak in Wales), then descends the rugged ridgeline of Y Lliwedd.
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With airy ridges and a knife-edge tiptoe, this 7-mile route is like an alpine fantasy come true. And if you’re a sucker for ancient mythology as well as mountain challenges, it doesn’t get any better. In Welsh, Snowdon, the highest mountain in the country, is called Yr Wyddfa: “the burial place.” According to legend, King Arthur and his knights fought their last battle on Snowdon’s slopes and were entombed there.
Begin from the Pen y Pass trailhead and follow the broad Pyg Track toward Snowdon, but take the first major fork to the right, at a stile where a fence crosses the main trail. Follow the steep track up and right, onto the black buttress overhead, then scramble up the hard black rock on solid handholds. Top out on the east end of the Crib Goch ridge, make your way along the arête, clamber over the airy Pinnacles, and cross the second knife-edge ridge of Crib y Ddysgl. The ridge broadens until you reach Snowdon’s 3,560-foot summit, which has head-spinning 360 views, but can feel a bit anticlimactic because of a tourist train that delivers the only crowds you’ll see on this route.
From the peak, drop southwest for several hundred yards, then find a faint path that cuts across the south face of Snowdon to Bwlch y Saetheau (Pass of the Arrows) where—according to legend—Arthur made his last stand. Climb on good trail across the summit of Y Lliwedd, and follow the ridge until you see a path that turns left and descends to the lake of Llyn Llydaw. There, you’ll intersect the Miner’s Track and follow it back to Pen Y Pass to close the loop.
Warning: While in nonwinter conditions this hike requires no technical gear, you need solid scrambling skills and comfort with serious exposure.
-Mapped by Steve Howe
Trail Facts
- Distance: 11.4
Waypoints
SCG001
Location: 53.080389, -4.021463
The route starts from the parking area at Pen-y-Pass trailhead. Follow the main “Pyg Track” west.
SCG002
Location: 53.07697, -4.041665
The saddle at the end of the ridge overlooks Llyn Llydaw. Turn right/west and climb the scrambly trail to the base of Crib Goch’s black buttress above.
SCG003
Location: 53.076711, -4.049948
Begin steep, class III scrambling (good holds and solid rock).
SCG004
Location: 53.076793, -4.053354
Crib Goch “The Red Comb.” Continue along the sharp ridgeline using holds just left/west of the crest.
SCG005
Location: 53.075784, -4.056991
Traverse the Pinnacles, then descend to a saddle. Scramble up cliff steps to the ragged crest of the ridge.
SCG006
Location: 53.07594, -4.064708
Crib y Ddysgl (Rake of the Dish). Follow its grassy knife-edge trail to Garnedd Ugain.
SCG007
Location: 53.07581, -4.07463
Crest Garnedd Ugain, a 3,494-foot peak marked with a concrete pylon.
SCG008
Location: 53.068323, -4.076357
Crest the summit of Snowdon, the tallest peak in Wales.
SCG009
Location: 53.066853, -4.074404
Trail traverses across face. Turn left/east and follow it to Pass of the Arrows.
SCG010
Location: 53.062347, -4.061551
Pass of the Arrows. Climb a zigzagging trail up the ridge and over the ridgeline summit of Y Lliwedd.
SCG011
Location: 53.058768, -4.055371
The trail traverses the summit of Y Lliwedd “pronounced “ee-CLEW-with”).
SCG012
Location: 53.061657, -4.045029
Path turns left/north and descends steeply off the ridgeline.
SCG013
Location: 53.070644, -4.039139
Junction: Intersect Miner’s Track. Turn right/east and leave Llyn (Lake) Llydaw. Follow trail back to Pen-Y-Pass trailhead.
SCG014
Location: 53.080176, -4.020873
The route ends at Pen-y-Pass parking lot.
